• Sukhyun Ryu, Youngsik Hwang, Sheikh Taslim Ali, Dong-Sook Kim, Eili Y Klein, LauEric H YEHYWorld Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.Laboratory of D, and Benjamin J Cowling.
• Department of Preventive Medicine, Konyang University College of Medicine, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
• J. Infect. Dis. 2021 Sep 17; 224 (6): 949-955.

BackgroundEarly in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there was a concern over possible increase in antibiotic use due to coinfections among COVID-19 patients in the community. Here, we evaluate the changes in nationwide use of broad-spectrum antibiotics during the COVID-19 epidemic in South Korea.MethodsWe obtained national reimbursement data on the prescription of antibiotics, including penicillin with β-lactamase inhibitors, cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones, and macrolides. We examined the number of antibiotic prescriptions compared with the previous 3 years in the same period from August to July. To quantify the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on antibiotic use, we developed a regression model adjusting for changes of viral acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs), which are an important factor driving antibiotic use.ResultsDuring the COVID-19 epidemic in South Korea, the broad-spectrum antibiotic use dropped by 15%-55% compared to the previous 3 years. Overall reduction in antibiotic use adjusting for ARTIs was estimated to be 14%-30%, with a larger impact in children.ConclusionsOur study found that broad-spectrum antibiotic use was substantially reduced during the COVID-19 epidemic in South Korea. This reduction can be in part due to reduced ARTIs as a result of stringent public health interventions including social distancing measures.© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

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